Dream a little dream of me
summary : when an aspiring actress stumble on a newspaper advertisement by Vought, she knows it's her last chance to achieve her dream and become an actress. But the advertisement never mentioned anything about powers or end up being paired with bombsight.
pairing : fem!self ship x bombsight (robbie)
warnings : not much apart 50s misogyny, bad parents and some physical pain because of the compound v
notes : this self insert series come from me and my friends in the reggie's groupchat on twitter so it is mainly from them but feel free to read it. Also first post ever here, very scary methinks.
The first thing that could be noticed about the Vought waiting room was how quiet it was.
Almost every chair were occupied by young men and young women beneath enormous patriotic posters. On every poster were the faces of soldier boy, bombsight, private angel, torpedo, private angel and liberty accompanied by the words “America needs more heroes”.
Some of the candidates wore expensive dresses while others looked like they had spent their very last dollars on their clothes. The secretaries were moving across the rooms to accompany the candidates to the audition room.
Chiara's nose kept scrunching at the heavy scent of smoke while she smoothed invisible wrinkles from her skirt. It was a nervous habit of hers.
If her mother was here, she would probably slap her hand away and tell her how no one would cast her if she kept fidgeting. The mere memory of her family made her stomach twist.
She didn't tell them the real reason why she came to New York for this audition. The newspaper advertisement promised acting opportunities but everyone knew what they were truly searching : more supes after the success of V1.
And Chiara needed work. Small theater roles weren't enough to pay rent, forcing her to work as a waitress in a local diner. And every audition went bad : she was too soft-spoken, too nervous and not memorable enough.
But with this, she could prove to her family that her dreams were reachable. That she could do it.
A few minutes later, a woman in a gray pencil skirt stepped into the room holding a brown clipboard.
Her name being called made her stand up, stumbling a little as she did so. Meanwhile, the secretary looked over at her, approval flickered across her expression when she noticed the long blonde curls, the blue eyes and her soft makeup.
The audition room didn't really look like the usual ones she saw in the past. There was only a camera, a spotlight and a single chair in the middle.
In front of it was an observation glass where many men in white coats stood behind. It was easy to see that it wasn't about acting.
She quickly moved to the chair where a Vought executive asked her to sit.
“Miss Adami,” he said, “we’d like you to start by reading page three.”
As she took the script, her hands were trembling slightly, even fumbling a little as she opened it to page three.
The scenario was simple : a wartime housewife thanking Soldier boy for keeping the country safe.
At first, she started reading out loud with a slightly shaky voice but a few lines later her voice grew stronger.
At the end, the room stayed silent for a few minutes. That made her anxious once again. She wondered if she did badly because in her own opinion, she wasn't that bad at acting.
Then murmurs could be heard through the glass. “Good camera face but her voice needs coaching,” said an executive while the other nodded.
Another voice then spoke up, “turn around for me, sweetheart.” The words made her gag inside but she obeyed. It felt humiliating the way those men spoke during her auditions.
Humiliation turned to confusion when strange questions followed. They asked her if she considered herself emotional, if her family had a medical history or even how she reacted under pressure.
Unease pooled in her stomach but she still replied carefully. And once again, the room turned silent.
Minutes later, a door creaked open. At the sound, she turned to see a doctor entering the room, carrying a small metal case.
Chiara's heartbeat quickened while she glanced warily at the metal case.
Yet, she didn't dare to speak up as she had no idea what was going to happen next. Then, she met the doctor's gaze as he smiled warmly at her, but it wasn't comforting in any way.
The man opened the metal case. Inside rested a syringe filled with glowing blue liquid. She stared at it with wide eyes, unease coming back stronger as if her body sensed how dangerous it was.
“You’re familiar with Compound V?” he asked.
“Everyone in America is familiar with Compound V sir,” she replied politely, unaware that in the next decades, it would become a secret.
“But I thought that it was only for military subjects,” she added, noticing the amused glances exchanged by the executives as if she said something silly.
“Times are changing,” he replied simply. The way he talked made it sound like he was discussing laboratory animals, not humans. Her instincts screamed at her to run once again, to go back to her bed and forget about Vought.
But then she thought about : the unpaid rent letter still laying on her table, her father calling her dreams childish, her mother's eyes rolling when she was rejected after every audition.
She couldn't go back to waitressing, to being a nobody that would end up marrying a man that she didn't love. She didn't want that life, not at all. She didn’t want to end up just like her mother, she had to break that cycle before she could repeat it.
The executive must have noticed the hesitation. Because his posture softened immediately while his smile turned almost predatory, he knew she was about to give in.
“Miss Adami…You have extraordinary potential.”
And it worked on her, she felt foolish for that but it worked. She allowed the nurse that just entered the room to strap her wrist to the chair.
The nurse was the only comforting face here as she moved to roll up the sleeve of her blouse while the doctor adjusted the camera lens toward her face.
It was how she realized that she was a mere study; if that failed, she would only end up becoming a lesson for the next candidate. Then her gaze drifted once again to the syringe held up by the doctor.
“You may experience discomfort,” he warned as if it wasn't the understatement of the year but she still nodded.
She could feel the needle sliding into her arm. Weirdly it felt cold and quickly, that cold was spreading in her entire body, the cold flooding every nerve in her body at once.
Pain quickly followed as if a pressure was crushing her organs. The doctor's voices were muffled as she squirmed in pain, she couldn't even hear her own screams of pain.
Then, the air changed. Every paper in the room flew off the table violently, the observation window started rattling as if it might break at any moment.
Chiara squirmed again as wind exploded outward from her body, the camera ending up flying against the wall and shattering.
Once again, the air switched, the room suddenly lacking oxygen while pressure kept building inside her.
It was both terrifying and painful. She could feel something moving beneath her skin as if the liquid was alive.
The only thing she could understand was that the doctors’ voices now sounded alarmed but still muffled.
Then, just as suddenly the pain started, everything stopped. Every floating paper drifted to the ground while the air pressure went back to normal. But the room was a mess, as if a tornado ruined it.
In the middle of it, Chiara was still strapped to the chair, trembling and sobbing. She could feel the stares, it made her want to shrink or simply pass out.
Then one executive spoke, “My God,” in an amazed tone. She then realized the stares weren't in anger but in disbelief.
“She’s regulating the atmosphere itself…” said a doctor who went to hide behind the glass.
“What are we classifying this as?” asked the youngest executive to the older one in the room. The older man held a triumphant smile on his face at the sight of another success.
“Marketable,” he then said.
Three weeks later, she was renamed Windfall by Vought. Then, the costume fittings followed. But so did the voice coaching, the camera training and the media coaching.
It seemed like they didn't care about her powers. This confused her, they needed another supe yet didn't care about what made her a supe. Wasn't she supposed to help America ? Yet, she didn't dare to ask, the paycheck was enough to keep her mouth shut.
At least, doctors were still monitoring her powers. But it didn't feel that reassuring when she was told that her powers were directly related to her emotional state, they could grow violent under stress.
Vought ignored that entirely. They didn't care that she could cause disasters, they cared about her public appeal and the money it would bring.
The first time she saw her face on a promotional poster, she felt shocked. She never imagined seeing herself on a poster but now here she was. A feeling of pride then bloomed in her chest, her dreams were coming true, even if it was in a bit of a twisted way.
That same day, her little cloud of happiness was popped by Vought. It wasn’t because she received bad news.
In fact, that was excellent news but the mere thought of it made her anxious. She was going to film her first commercial alongside bombsight.
The set looked like the picture perfect suburban dream. But it also looked like it was made by someone who never lived out of New York.
Picket white fences, green lawns that were way too green and extras that smiled too much. The blue sky also looked way too fake and the fake sun was almost blinding.
Crew members ran around the set, carrying cables and props while directors screamed through their megaphones.
Yet, Chiara couldn't really focus on it as she stood near the edge of the set clutching her cue cards way too tightly.
Her costume felt too tight. To be honest, she still wasn't used to the way it hugged her waist, she never wore pinup like clothes in the past.
Finally, she focused when she noticed that everyone on set straightened. The air around her felt heavier, it was like a physical pressure on her shoulders.
It meant one thing : Bombsight arrived.
Her gaze easily found him as he walked confidently onto set, wearing his leather brown jacket, his navy gloves were tucked beneath one arm while makeup artists chased him to fix his makeup even though he already looked perfect.
He was intimidating because compared to her, he looked completely at ease there. He looked made to be in front of cameras, and she wasn't so sure if she was made for this.
One executive hurried over immediately. “Bombsight! Wonderful. You’ll be paired with Windfall today.”
At this, he glanced towards her briefly. It was short, but enough for her to forget how to breathe.
The executive continued enthusiastically as he didn't notice the way the two stared at each other for a quick moment.
“The audiences are going to love this dynamic. War hero meets girl-next-door optimism.”
Bombsight simply hummed, sounding completely uninterested while Chiara only thought about how she wanted to disappear.
The filming was awful. There were no other words needed to describe how it was currently going.
The first shot was simple, Chiara only needed to walk down the sidewalk, the grocery bags suspended in the air with her powers while she smiled brightly but the moment cameras rolled, she forgot half her lines.
“Cut.” the director sighed loudly as if she was the biggest burden during his entire career.
For the second attempt, the floating paper bag slammed directly into a fake mailbox. The content of the bag flying out.
At each attempt, her face kept burning hotter and hotter while the executives started getting more and more demanding.
They told her how she should be less stiff, more charming and more natural. It made her even more nervous and the air sensed it.
By the fifth take, the curtains started to flutter violently even though the entire studio was closed. Her power directly worried the crew members, scared to see one of their cameras flying off and being broken.
On another part of the set, Bombsight shot his entrance. While the fake rocket descended via wires, at the same time many alarms blared across the set.
On cue, he launched upward and landed perfectly beside her in an effortless manner. The proximity and awe was enough for Chiara to completely miss her next line.
“Not with Bombsight around,” the small voice of the child actress next to her was enough to get her out of her stupor.
She blinked as horror was slowly overtaking her brain. Once again, she made a mistake and she already imagined how Vought would fire her for being such a bad actress.
She could only think about how they wasted their previous Compound V on her.
Meanwhile, Bombsight glanced sideways when she still didn't speak her line, and in one look, he understood what was happening.
He could hear how almost everyone was talking, their voices overlapping. It was her first shoot and they were already putting too much pressure on her. It was a wonder how she didn't break down yet.
They were all saying that she needed more confidence but he truly doubted that those were the words she needed to hear right now.
“Maybe everybody quit yappin’ at her for five seconds.” He said, finally speaking up.
His voice silenced everyone while new co-star stared at him with wide eyes. After all, she surely expected him to get mad at her for making this shoot longer than it was supposed to.
“We're simply trying to help,” an executive said with a strained laugh. Clearly, he didn't want to get on the bad side of someone who could rip him apart in seconds.
“Looks more like you’re trying to scare her to death.”
With that, he walked over to Chiara, lowering his voice so the Vought employees around them wouldn't overhear.
“You know the lines ?” He asked, yet his tone held no judgments because he already knew the answer. She confirmed his thoughts when she nodded quickly.
“Then forget everybody else.” he added as he casually adjusted the crooked bow at her collar that held her cape. It was made in translucent layers of fabric and embroidered with golden cloud patterns.
She didn't understand why, but thanks to him, something in her chest loosened and breathing started to become easier for her.
Maybe it was his words or the way he looked at her like she was a real person and not the product that was getting shaped by Vought.
She realized that it was because he was the first person to truly understand her. He went through the same thing, after all.
They started shooting again and surprisingly, the next takes went way better. The commercial was finally looking like something structured and not like the mess it was previously.
She was now walking through the streets, her floating groceries following her while humming a cheerful tone. Bombsight then landed beside as the fake enemy rocket flew overhead. They then saved the city just as dramatically.
For the final shot, the child actress looked up at the two heroes in awe and asked in wonder “Miss Windfall, aren't you scared ?”
Instinctively, she turned her head to look at the man standing next to her. The smile that stretched her lips wasn't an act, it was genuine.
“Not with Bombsight around.”
On cue, he smirked towards the camera lens that was focused on them while he rubbed his neck as if he truly was getting by her attention.
“Aw, shucks,” he said good-naturedly.
It was needless to say that executives loved this take. The smiles on their faces were enough to finally make Chiara relax completely.
But it seemed like the whole universe decided to rally against her because while everyone started to arrange the set, one assistant dropped a heavy lighting stand.
The crashing sound made her jump violently, taking her by surprise. Of course, her powers followed directly as wind bursted onto the set.
Scripts flew everywhere while the curtains were literally ripped away from the fake houses. A cameraman tripped over the cables on the ground as he tried to run away.
“I'm sorry,” she kept mumbling in pure panic. Her own powers were acting up and yet she felt completely helpless. In a way, she felt even more vulnerable now that she was a supe.
While almost everyone on set backed away from her, Bombsight did the opposite. He went toward her, not caring about how strong the wind was, about how his hair looked like a pure mess now and that the wind kept tearing at his leather coat.
When he finally stood in front of her, she could only send him a helpless look. Her own powers weren't listening to her and she didn't know how to control it.
“I can't stop it,” she murmured in a shaky tone while anxiety clawed at her chest.
“Yeah, you can,” he replied. Compared to her, his voice was calm. The difference between them was almost infuriating as she craved to be more like that.
Then, she felt his gloved hand wrap around her wrist and his thumb started to rub the inside of her wrist in a soothing way.
“Breathe, sweetheart,” he murmured. The nickname slipped naturally as if they had known each other for years.
Her breath hitched at his words but it was followed by a shaky inhale as she tried to focus on his soothing touch. The winds slowly weakened and at the next inhale, the scripts and curtains drifted down.
The set was completely silent as everyone on set looked at her nervously. Yet, Bombsight was the only one who didn't look at her like a ticking bomb.
Instead, he looked down at her with a curious look as if she was something he didn't expect.
The fake suburban street looked destroyed. The clothes used as laundry props were thrown across the street and some lights were completely shattered.
The only people left on set were the exhausted crew members who still had to clean everything.
Chiara decided to stay too. Bombsight noticed this after he left his lodge. He spent the last thirty minutes there having to listen to a Vought executive talking about his planning for the next few weeks.
The fact she was still there was unusual. Normally, the new talents vanished directly once the filming was done, dragged away by Vought or already too haughty to care about the poor crew members.
But she remained there, following the different crew members to whom she apologized constantly.
Curious about what he was seeing, he decided to stay there for a few more minutes so he could keep watching. He leaned slightly against a fake white fence as he plucked out a cigarette from a small metal case.
She was now crouched beside one of the assistants, gathering scattered papers with them.
“Miss Windfall, you don’t gotta—” the assistant started nervously. They knew how Vought could act up if they saw their precious new product doing mundane tasks.
“Chiara,” she corrected automatically without even thinking about her own words.
She didn't even notice the startled look from the assistant.
Instead, she reached upwards cautiously and a soft current of air followed, lifting the last papers gently off the floor and depositing them back on the nearby table. This time, she managed to control her powers.
“Thank you,” the assistant said quietly and the effect was immediate as Chiara brightened directly as if she was proud of doing something so basic.
At the sight, he frowned slightly around his cigarette. It was weird to him but he was now way too curious to stop observing what was happening.
Across the set, she moved to approach one of the technicians who tried to untangle cables.
“Wait, let me help, mister Feldman.”
At the sound of her voice, the older man stiffened visibly. Her expression dimmed at that, she knew that people were already afraid of her.
But then, she forced another smile and still decided to help him. A small breeze lifted the heavier cable carefully off the ground so the technician could reposition it easily.
“There,” she said softly. “Is that alright?” she looked at the man expectantly, hoping that she did good and that she didn't make everything worse.
“Yeah…thank you, miss.” the man replied with a wary tone but he still seemed grateful for the help. In turn, her smile stretched as she looked clearly relieved.
Bombsight crushed the ash from his cigarette thoughtfully as his gaze stayed stuck on her while she kept moving through the set. He noticed the way she remembered everybody on set calling them by names as she truly tried to get acquainted with them.
The scene got interesting again when one of the makeup girls accidentally dropped a tray of powder compacts near her. The powder made her sneeze loudly as it bursted towards her face.
Clouds of powder erupted around her at the same time, the makeup artists and herself ending up covered in beige powders. It was easier to see the impact on their clothes and hair. Chiara blinked in confusion at the sight of the shocked woman next to her as she understood that now, even her sneeze made her powers act up.
“Oh my God– I’m sorry–” she started, wanting to apologize to the poor woman who clearly wore brand new clothes for her work today. Now her red dress was covered in beige powder.
But another sneeze escaped her before she could even try to prevent it. This time, a gust of wind made the hat of a poor assistant fly away. The other crew members didn’t take any step back this time. Sure, her powers were acting up, but compared to previously, it wasn’t as violent.
But Chiara still covered her nose with her hand as if she could physically hold back any potential sneeze that threatened to escape her.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her face growing red with embarrassment. “The powder just–” but she was quickly interrupted by the makeup girl who looked more guilty than scared by the supe next to her.
“No, miss, it was my fault—” the other woman said and it seemed to be enough for the supe to calm down a little as her face went from a bright to a more gentle pink.
Bombsight finally decided to move as he pushed himself off the fake white fence, crushing the rest of his cigarette under his boots. Even if people didn’t look afraid of Windfall right now, one of the assistants could end up messing everything up by saying something stupid.
He stopped beside her, taking in the way she was now covered in powder. But weirdly, it fitted her. It made her look more human and less like a Voughts product.
“That all you got? Couple sneezes?” he asked her with an amused smirk while she met his gaze with a look of disbelief at his words. The pink coloring once again her cheeks.
“Who knows what could have happened if I kept sneezing. I already broke a camera last time.”
“And Jenkins blew up a prop truck last month yet nobody threatened to exorcise or fire him.”
At his words, a startled laugh slipped from her lips before she could even prevent it. And it seemed that even her positive emotions affected her powers as a soft breeze went between them.
Noticing how her powers reacted once again to her emotions, she looked down in slight embarrassment. She already felt like she was an open book, but now, it felt way worse. She was easier to read now.
Yet, he couldn’t help but find that reaction cute and he hated that realization as soon as it crossed his mind. Because she was the perfect example of what Vought was trying to produce.
She was the sweet shy girl next door while he was the war hero. The perfect cliché American romance that could be seen in every recent movie. He should have known that Vought had prepared a PR relationship for one of them.
But then he remembered how she acted since the beginning of filming. She had been nervous the whole time, sure, but she also remembered every crew member’s name and she looked terrified by her own powers.
Even though she was being shaped into a product, she was still behaving like a person and he doubted that Vought would truly be able to change this. This new realisation made something shift inside him.
He couldn’t truly name it yet but he did know that he wanted to get to know her better.
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